Reminiscence: We Held on to that Bittersweet Love
by Shizza24
Summary: It was all so long ago... she must have forgotten


The Café had been a place Zero and Yuuki used to visit often, while running errands for the Chairman. They would usually stop by at the shop on their way back for some ice-cream. Even though those times were nothing more than distant memories now, the mere sight of the place brought them back to life so vividly that Zero felt as if it was but yesterday that he and Yuuki had spent the afternoon together, eating ice-cream. Standing on the road across the café, he wondered what had made him stop there as he was heading back from school.

Glancing at the small, white building with the green wooden front door and two similar windows on each side, he noticed that it hadn't changed a bit. The shades above the windows were still striped in red and white and even the arrangement of the four tables, with four chairs around each, lined along the front side walk was unchanged.

Zero stepped into the shop to find the same checkered floor leading up to a small counter. The shelf behind it had glassware neatly arranged on it, comprising mostly of ice-cream glasses and bowls of all sizes. As he took a seat on one of the tables, a familiar face greeted him. One of the Cross Academy students who worked there as a waitress, looked surprised to see Zero there after such a long time.

He still remembered the day he and Yuuki had come to this place the first time- about half a year since Zero had started living with the Chairman.

~oOo~

It was a hot, summer day and Yuuki wanted to have some ice-cream on their way back home. The look of joy in her eyes as she glanced at the café, stopping dead in her tracks, was definitely hard to ignore. In a matter of moments they were inside the shop, occupying one of the tables, with Zero sitting on the same spot as the one he now sat on, and Yuuki sitting across him. As she was glancing at the menu, a permanent smile filled her countenance, complimenting her ever cheerful pair of soft brown eyes. Zero, who had always been the exact opposite of her, sat on his seat in silence, his eyes wandering about the place in utter nonchalance. Behind them, a few customers were sitting on the tables and enjoying their ice-creams, conversing on topics he didn't really care about.

"Which ice-cream do you want, Zero?" Yuuki asked, showing him the menu in her hand. Zero gave it a quick glance and replied: "I'll have 'Purple Snow'," referring to a plum flavored ice-cream.

"We'll order one 'Purple Snow' and one 'Rainbow Shower.'" she gave a waiter their orders. When their ice-creams arrived, Yuuki's was a colorful mixture of all sorts of fruity flavors: red strawberry, yellow mango, green pineapple, blue blueberry. Her eyes glistened with excitement as she took a spoonful, exclaiming with delight how wonderfully delectable it was. A vibrant assortment of lively colors, Rainbow Shower was indeed a flavor that suited her well. Zero's ice-cream on the other hand, was a dull combination of purple plums and white vanilla. The taste, however, wasn't bad at all.

"I have an idea!" Yuuki suddenly exclaimed. "Let's try out each other's ice-cream! Come on Zero! I want to know what yours tastes like! Can we? _Pleeeaasee?_"

"I guess" Zero replied, and they exchanged a portion of their ice-creams. Taking a bite of Rainbow Shower, he felt his taste buds flinch as a bitter flavor filled his mouth. He found the combination of all those fruits to be absolutely terrible, the taste of each one overwhelming the other. As he grimaced, he heard a squealing Yuuki cry out: "How the hell do you eat this thing?" Her expression was the same as his. They never tried out each other's ice-creams after that.

~oOo~

"What would you like to order?" the waitress' voice broke his train of thought.

"I'll have a Rainbow Shower."

She gave him a puzzled look, but went on to work on his order without saying anything. In a few moments, the ever colorful rainbow shower was sitting right in front of Zero. Though it tasted as horrible as it had the last time, Zero wanted nothing more than to sit on that seat and eat that ice-cream.

* * *

><p>Hundreds of miles away, a dark haired woman stood in a street, having snuck out of the mansion yet again. She was at an ice-cream vendor's shop and was glancing at his menu.<p>

"One 'Purple Snow', please."


End file.
